Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Takes Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,561,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Markel Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $94,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 294.2% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 791.6% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11,630 shares during the period. 84.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Citigroup cut their price target on General Dynamics from $298.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on General Dynamics from $243.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Cowen increased their price target on General Dynamics from $260.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Dynamics from $260.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.15.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $218.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $231.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.84. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $207.42 and a 12-month high of $256.86.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.66 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 8.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.31%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 27,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.93, for a total transaction of $6,263,268.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 56,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,914,359.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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General Dynamics Corp. is a global aerospace and defense company, which engages in design, engineering, and manufacturing to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures, and sells business jets.